Badge - Close up

[Xmetal]

I've been doing this type of thing for a while now and i think i've hit a glass ceiling, so i'm asking all you fine and knowledgeable folk on the boards to offer some alternative ideas and suggestions.

Camera: Canon Powershot S45
Speed: 1/900
App: f7.1
ISO: can't remember

 

[CMILLEY]

I like the detail and the dark red. The shadow/groove on the far right side could be cropped/shopped out.

One thing is the chrome has a blue tint to it, I am assuming from a blue sky. I'm wondering, just to experiment, if you could try to use coloured bristle board without blocking out too much light to give alternates to the blue in the chrome?

 

[Hertz van Rental]

It looks like you are shooting in strong sunlight - any hard directional light will show up all the blemishes. So try using soft light - either shoot in a garage or at night with a softbox. Or use sunlight but construct a light tent over the subject using a thin white sheet.
This will also help to control hotspots and flare.

The other thing is - clean the badges carefully before you shoot. On that one there is some real awful gunk under the 'R'. Macro shots show everything.

(And CMILLEY - it's Bristol board - not bristle board ;-) )

 

[Xmetal]

Hertz, It was Midday and the glare was painful on the eyes. What exactly is a 'softbox'? I know it's a form of lighting equipment but i'm not sure as to what it looks like. :? I'm interested to know what a Bristol board is aswell.

I'm still new with lighting systems and the like.

 

[CMILLEY]

There's nothing fancy about bristol board, it's just large squares of coloured heavy contruction paper. The stuff's pretty cheap at you local print/art shop. They can be useful for playing with the light.

I was thinking of using it to get different colors than sky blue reflecting in the chrome, maybe get someone to hold it over the badge while you take the shot.

It's not a suggestion for improvement, just an idea for an alternative.